Lesson Plan – Economics: Economic Utility
Course Title: Marketing
Session Title: Economics: Economic Utility
Performance Objective:
• Upon completion of this lesson, the student will explain how economic decisions
create utility (satisfaction).
Specific Objectives:
• Students will define four types of economic utility.
• Students will explain how marketers use utility to increase customer satisfaction.
Preparation
TEKS Correlations:
This lesson, as published, correlates to the following TEKS. Any changes/alterations to
the activities may result in the elimination of any or all of the TEKS listed.
• 130.344(c)(13)(A)
communicate the differences among pricing structures for goods, services, and
ideas; and
• 130.344(c)(13)(B)
develop a pricing structure for an entrepreneurial venture.
• 130.347(c)(2)(I)
express how organizations adapt to today's markets.
• 130.112(c)(1)(B)
…differentiate between goods and services.
• 130.112(c)(1)(H)
…explain how organizations adapt to current markets.
Interdisciplinary Correlations:
English:
110.33(b)(1)(A) – Reading/Vocabulary Development
…determine the meaning of grade-level technical academic English words in
multiple content areas (e.g., science, mathematics, social studies, the arts) derived from
Latin, Greek or other linguistic roots and affixes.
110.33(b)(1)(B) – Reading/Vocabulary Development
… analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to draw
conclusions about the nuance in word meanings.
110.33(b)(1)(C) – Reading/Vocabulary Development
…infer word meaning through the identification and analysis of analogies and other
word relationships.
110.33(b)(9)(C) – Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Expository Text
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…make and defend subtle inferences and complex conclusions about the ideas in text
and their organizational patterns.
110.33(b)(11)(B) – Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Procedural Text
…translate (from text to graphic or from graphic to text) complex, factual, quantitative,
or technical information presented in maps, charts, illustrations, graphs, timelines,
tables and diagrams.
110.33(b)(12)(A) – Reading/Media Literacy
…evaluate how messages presented in media reflect social and cultural views in
ways different from traditional texts.
110.33(b)(12)(B) – Reading/Media Literacy
…evaluate the interactions of different techniques (e.g., layout, pictures, typeface in
print media, images, text, sound in electronic journalism) used in multi-layered media.
110.33(b)(12)(C) – Reading/Media Literacy
…evaluate the objectivity of coverage of the same event in various types of media.
110.33(b)(12)(D) – Reading/Media Literacy
…evaluate changes in formality and tone across various media for different audiences
and purposes.
Teacher Preparation:
References:
1. Marketing, Third Edition, James L. Burrow, Southwestern Cengage Learning
2. Marketing Essentials, McGraw Hill
3. USA Today and local newspapers
Instructional Aids:
1. Enhancing Economic Utility PowerPoint Presentation
2. Guided Practice Activity #1 Assignment Sheet
3. Individual Practice Activity #1 and #2 Student Directions
4. Research Report: Forms of Utility for a Business
Independent Practice Activity #1 Rubric
5. PowerPoint: Forms of Utility for a Business
Independent Practice Activity #1 Rubric
6. Extension Activity #1 and #1 Student Directions
7. Research Report: Improving Economic Utility for a Local Business
Extension Activity #1 Rubric
8. Persuasive Essay: How to Improve Form Utility for a Product
Extension Activity #2 Rubric
9. Internet
Materials Needed:
1. Construction paper
2. Scissors and glue
3. Poster Board
4. Current newspapers and magazines
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Equipment Needed:
1. Computers for students to complete projects
2. Projector for PowerPoint presentation
3. White or chalk board
Learner Preparation:
1. Ask students what factors determine how much time it takes a consumer to make
a purchasing decision. Some of the factors may include price, necessity, and
perceived value or status. Then call out purchases and ask students if their
purchases require a lot of thought or if their purchases are ordinary decisions.
Also discuss how some purchases become more urgent due to place utility. For
example, gloves and a stoking cap are essential when winter arrives in the
northern part of the United States. This is an example of time utility. Christmas
displays pop up in shopping mall as early as October, representing another
example of time utility.
2. Ask students to explain the four types of economic utility in relationship to a
chicken sandwich. Form utility is essential to make the food presentable for
consumption. Place utility involves having the sandwich available where hungry
consumers are located, time utility means having an adequate amount of food
available for lunch and dinner, and possession utility involves getting the food
to customers who have the money and demand for the product.
3. Ask students to explain how “form utility” has changed for items sold at fast food
restaurants since there is a greater concern for healthier diets and physically fit
Americans. Assign students a one-page report to explain how menus at fast-food
restaurants have changed due to concern for a healthier diet. (Directions for this
assignment “Healthier Menu” are on a separate sheet of paper). May be done for
extra credit.
Lesson Plan
Introduction (LSI Quadrant I):
1. Discuss products that students or their families have purchased that did not meet
their expectations. Ask students to share ways that the products could be
changed to increase customer satisfaction. Then ask students to categorize the
changes as form, time, place, or possession utility. Split the class into four
teams. Or…
2. Assign each team one of the economic utilities (form, place, time, possession).
Each team must suggest ways that businesses could use their utility to increase
the company’s share of consumer purchases. Or…
3. Ask students to explain if their purchase of an automobile would involve more
form, time, place, or possession utility. Students must explain the purpose for
their automobile purchase, features they need the automobile to include, and
other factors involved with the major purchase. Students should explain if they
would shop around or stop at one dealership to make their automobile purchase.
They must explain the reason for their automobile purchasing strategy.
(Directions for the “Automobile Purchase” assignment are on a separate
document).
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Important Terms for this Lesson:
• economic utility-amount of satisfaction a consumer receives from the
consumption of a particular product or service
• form utility-changing raw material or putting parts together to make them more
useful
• place utility-having a product where customers can buy it
• time utility- having a product available at a certain time of year or a convenient
time of day
• possession utility- the exchange of a product for money; allowing alternatives to
cash such as credit, personal checks, debit cards, lay away
Outline
Outline (LSI Quadrant II):
Instructors can use the PowerPoint presentation, slides, handouts, current events, the
Internet, and note pages in conjunction with the following outline.
MI
Outline
Notes to Instructor
I. Utility Means Satisfaction
B. Survey the class
A. Economic Utility-amount of satisfaction a
to find out how
consumer receives from the consumption of
many students or
a particular product or service
their families
B. Types of Economic Utility
have used a
.
1. form
credit card for a
a. physical product
purchase. This
b. construction of a product
is an example of
2. time
possession
a. available when the customer wants
utility—making
the product
possession
b. convenient hours of operation for the
available to a
consumer
broader
3. place
audience.
a. having the product where the
consumer is located
List the four forms of
b. supermarket in a new housing
utility on the board
subdivision
and ask four
4. possession
students to write an
a. pay by cash or credit
example of how a
b. finance, rent, or lease products
business could
increase sales by
paying attention to
each form of utility.
II. Utility is a Marketing Tool
B. Ask students to
A. Finds ways to add value to products and
give examples of
services through changes in form, time,
products and
place, and possession
services that
B. Improved utility equals improved customer
they have seen
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satisfaction
advertised as
“New and
Improved.” Then
ask students
which forms of
utility marketers
are emphasizing
with the “New
and Improved”
label.
Copy and paste Multiple Intelligences Graphic in appropriate place in left column.
Verbal
Linguistic
Logical
Mathematical
Visual
Spatial
Musical
Rhythmic
Bodily
Kinesthetic
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Naturalist
Existentialist
Application
Guided Practice (LSI Quadrant III):
1. Tell the students that it is two weeks from graduation and everyone is heading off
to college. Then ask students to develop a list of products that they will need for
college and the most convenient stores for purchasing those products. Students
will complete the worksheet for “College Count Down.” Does the store take
credit cards and does it have self-check out. This is a good assignment to
discuss place, possession, and time utility. Or…
2. Ask students to write on the board items that a fast-food restaurant should
include in To-Go orders. Some of the answers will include utensils, straw, salt,
pepper, and sugar. Ask students what forms of payment are accepted by the
restaurant. Then explain how the extra items are important for form and
possession utility. Or…
3. Split the class into teams of four students. Give each group a potato and five
minutes to write down all the ways to make the potato have greater form utility.
Ask each group to share at least two of their answers on the board. This is a
good example of how changing the form of a product makes it more useful to
the consumer.
Independent Practice (LSI Quadrant III):
1. Utility Assignment: Ask students to list and define each form of utility. Then
students must select a business, describe the products and services sold by the
business, and explain the forms of utility offered by the business. Students will
write a one-page paper and share their information with the class. Or create a
seven-slide PowerPoint presentation that addresses each form of utility and
share with the class.
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2. Give students different locations throughout the United State that have different
climates during the winter (Phoenix, AZ, Minneapolis, MN, and Charlotte, NC).
Then ask students what products and services would be important for those
locations when considering time utility. Students must complete the table
provided in the “Preparing for Winter” worksheet. This assignment is a great ice
breaker for describing time possession.
Summary
Review (LSI Quadrants I and IV):
Q: What is economic utility?
A: Economic utility is the amount of satisfaction a consumer receives from the
consumption of a particular product or service.
Q: What are the four major forms of utility?
A: The four types of economic utility are form, place, time, and possession.
Q: How does the marketing concept relate to the concept of economic utility?
A: Marketers who apply the marketing concept identify unmet customer needs and
wants and then develop improved products and services through changes in
economic utility to increase customers’ satisfaction.
Evaluation
Informal Assessment (LSI Quadrant III):
1. Instructor will observe students during Independent Practice assignments, class
discussion, class participation, and PowerPoint discussions.
2. Instructor will assist individual students as needed.
Formal Assessment (LSI Quadrant III, IV):
1. Independent Practice Activity #1 will be evaluated using either “Research Report:
Forms of Utility for a Business” for the “PowerPoint: Forms of Utility for a
Business” Rubric as students select a business, describe products and services
and explain the four types of utility for those businesses.
2. Independent Practice Activity # 2 will be evaluated by the instructor for
successful completion of the worksheets.
3. Extension Activity #1will be evaluated using “Research Report: Improving
Economic Utility for a Local Business” as students research local business to
determine what has been done to improve economic utility for customers.
4. Extension activity #2 will be evaluated using “Persuasive Essay: How to Improve
Form Utility for a Product” as students select a commonly used product and tell
how to improve the form utility of that product.
Extension/Enrichment (LSI Quadrant IV):
1. Ask students (in groups of 2) to survey a local business to find out what has been
done to improve economic utility for customers. Students will prepare a onepage report about the information obtained from the business.
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2. Ask students to select a commonly used product and write two or more
paragraphs about how to improve the form utility for the product.
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Guided Practice Activity #1—Individual Assignment
Student Name:_______________________
Directions: Soon you will be finishing your high school career and preparing to attend
college. This assignment requires you to prepare a list of good you will need for
college. You will list the most convenient stores that offer your college product needs.
Complete the “College Count Down” worksheet. Make sure to indicate if the store takes
credit cards and mention if it has self-check out convenience. This assignment focuses
attention on place, possession, and time utility.
College Count Down
Products Needed for College
Product
Store
Other Store
Where the
Product Can Be
Purchased
Price
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Does the
store
offer
credit as
a form of
payment?
Does the
store
have a
self
checkout
register?
8
Independent Practice Activity #1—Individual Assignment
Directions: List and define each form of utility. Select a business, describe the
products and services sold by the business, and explain the forms of utility offered
by the business. Write a one-page paper about utility, giving examples from the
business you chose and share your information with the class; or create a 7-slide
PowerPoint presentation that addresses all four forms of utility and share the
presentation with the class.
Forms of Utility Defined
Type of
Utility
Form
Definition
Place
Time
Possession
Forms of Utility in Products Offered by a Business
Name of Business:
Product
Utility Involved with the Product
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Independent Practice Activity #2—Individual Assignment
Student Name:__________________________
Directions: (Phoenix, AZ, Minneapolis, MN, and Charlotte, NC) are three cities
with different climates during the winter. Complete the following worksheet to explain
what products and services would be important for the three locations considering
winter climate.
Preparing for winter:
City
Define Winter
Climate for the City
List Products and
Services Needed in
the Winter for the
City’s Climate
Phoenix, AZ
Minneapolis, MN
Charlotte, NC
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Research Report : Forms of Utility for a Business
Independent Practice Activity #1 Rubric
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
20
15
10
5
Organization
Information is very
organized with wellconstructed paragraphs
and subheadings.
Information is organized
with well-constructed
paragraphs.
Information is
organized, but
paragraphs are not
well-constructed.
The information
appears to be
disorganized. 8)
Amount of
Information
All topics are addressed
and all questions
answered with at least 2
sentences about each.
All topics are addressed
and most questions
answered with at least 2
sentences about each.
All topics are
addressed, and most
questions answered
with 1 sentence about
each.
One or more topics
were not addressed.
Quality of
Information
Information clearly relates
to the main topic. It
includes several
supporting details and/or
examples.
Information clearly relates
to the main topic. It
provides 1-2 supporting
details and/or examples.
Information clearly
Information has little
relates to the main
or nothing to do with
topic. No details and/or the main topic.
examples are given.
Sources
All sources (information
and graphics) are
accurately documented in
the desired format.
All sources (information
and graphics) are
accurately documented,
but a few are not in the
desired format.
All sources (information Some sources are
and graphics) are
not accurately
accurately documented, documented.
but many are not in the
desired format.
Mechanics
No grammatical, spelling
or punctuation errors.
Almost no grammatical,
spelling or punctuation
errors
A few grammatical
Many grammatical,
spelling, or punctuation spelling, or
errors.
punctuation errors.
Total Points ______
Maximum 100 Points
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Forms of Utility for a Business
Independent Practice Activity #1 PowerPoint Rubric
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
20
15
10
Content
Covers four types of
utility and is well
researched. Subject
knowledge appears to
be excellent
Includes essential
knowledge about the four
types of utility. Subject
knowledge appears to be
good.
Includes essential
Content is minimal OR
information about the four there are several factual
types of utility, but there errors.
are 1-2 factual errors.
Presentation
Well-rehearsed with
smooth delivery that
holds audience
attention.
Rehearsed with fairly
smooth delivery that
holds audience attention
most of the time.
Delivery not smooth, but
able to maintain interest
of the audience most of
the time.
Delivery not smooth and
audience attention often
lost.
Makes use of font, color,
graphics, effects, etc. but
occasionally these
detract from the
presentation content.
Use of font, color,
graphics, effects etc. but
these often distract from
the presentaion content.
Attractiveness Makes excellent use of Makes good use of font,
font, color, graphics,
color, graphics, effects,
effects, etc. to enhance etc. to enhance to
the presentation.
presentation.
Organization
Content is well
organized using
headings or bulleted
lists to group related
material.
Uses headings or
Content is logically
bulleted lists to organize, organized for the most
but the overall
part.
organization of topics
appears flawed.
Originality
Product shows a large
amount of original
thought. Ideas are
creative and inventive.
Product shows some
original thought. Work
shows new ideas and
insights.
5
There was no clear or
logical organizational
structure, just lots of
facts.
Uses other people's ideas Uses other people's
(giving them credit), but
ideas, but does not give
there is little evidence of them credit.
original thinking.
Total Points ______
Maximum Score 100 pts.
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Extension/Enrichment Activity #1—Teams with Two Students
Directions: Survey a local business to find out what has been done to improve economic
utility for customers. Prepare a one-page report about the information obtained from the
business.
Name of Business:
What the Business has done to Improve Economic Utility
Type of Economic Utility
Business Actions to Improve this
Type of Utility
Extension/Enrichment Activity #2—Individual Assignment
Directions: Select a commonly used product and write two or more paragraphs about how to
improve the form utility for the product.
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Research Report : Improving Economic Utility for a
Local Business
Extension Activity #1 Rubric
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
25
20
15
10 or less
Organization
Information is very
organized with wellconstructed paragraphs
and subheadings.
Information is organized Information is
with well-constructed
organized, but
paragraphs.
paragraphs are not
well-constructed.
The information
appears to be
disorganized. 8)
Amount of
Information
All topics are addressed
and all questions
answered with at least 2
sentences about each.
All topics are addressed
and most questions
answered with at least 2
sentences about each.
All topics are
addressed, and most
questions answered
with 1 sentence about
each.
One or more topics
were not addressed.
Quality of
Information
Information clearly relates
to the main topic. It
includes several
supporting details and/or
examples.
Information clearly
relates to the main topic.
It provides 1-2
supporting details and/or
examples.
Information clearly
Information has little
relates to the main
or nothing to do with
topic. No details and/or the main topic.
examples are given.
Sources
All sources (information
and graphics) are
accurately documented in
the desired format.
All sources (information
and graphics) are
accurately documented,
but a few are not in the
desired format.
All sources (information Some sources are not
and graphics) are
accurately
accurately
documented.
documented, but many
are not in the desired
format.
Total Points ________
Maximum 100 Points
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Persuasive Essay : How to Improve Form Utility for a Product
Extension Assignment #2 Rubric
Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY 25
Attention
Grabber
The introductory
paragraph has a
strong hook or
attention grabber that
is appropriate for the
audience. This could
be a strong statement,
a relevant quotation,
statistic, or question
addressed to the
reader.
Support for Includes 3 or more
pieces of evidence
Position
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences) that
support the position
statement. The writer
anticipates the
reader's concerns,
biases or arguments
and has provided at
least 1 counterargument.
20
15
10 or less
The introductory
paragraph has a hook
or attention grabber,
but it is weak, rambling
or inappropriate for the
audience.
The author has an
interesting introductory
paragraph but the
connection to the topic
is not clear.
The introductory
paragraph is not
interesting AND is not
relevant to the topic.
Includes 3 or more
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences) that
support the position
statement.
Includes 2 pieces of
evidence (facts,
statistics, examples,
real-life experiences)
that support the
position statement.
Includes 1 or fewer
pieces of evidence
(facts, statistics,
examples, real-life
experiences).
Evidence
and
Examples
All of the evidence and
examples are specific,
relevant and
explanations are given
that show how each
piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
Most of the evidence
and examples are
specific, relevant and
explanations are given
that show how each
piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
At least one of the
pieces of evidence
and examples is
relevant and has an
explanation that shows
how that piece of
evidence supports the
author's position.
Evidence and
examples are NOT
relevant AND/OR are
not explained.
Sources
All sources used for
quotes, statistics and
facts are credible and
cited correctly.
All sources used for
quotes, statistics and
facts are credible and
most are cited
correctly.
Most sources used for
quotes, statistics and
facts are credible and
cited correctly.
Many sources are
suspect (not credible)
AND/OR are not cited
correctly.
Total Points ______
Points
Score
Maximum 100
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